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Showing posts with label ruraldevelopment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ruraldevelopment. Show all posts

IFAD Annual Report 2015: Cheat sheet

Posted by Hazel Bedford Wednesday, June 29, 2016 0 comments

Go to the IFAD Annual Report 2015
IFAD’s Annual Report and Highlights for 2015 have just been published. People from across the organization have contributed and the report contains a wealth of information on our work and our results – stories, facts, figures and analysis. This short blogpost is a cheat sheet, giving you all the big numbers from the main report, plus some tasters from the stories.

These are the big numbers, correct as at 31 December 2015:
  • 231 ongoing programmes and projects funded by IFAD in partnership with 98 governments
  • IFAD investment of US$6.2 billion in the ongoing portfolio and domestic contributions and external cofinancing worth US$7.6 billion
  • 39 new programmes and projects approved in 2015 with loans, DSF grants and ASAP grants worth US$1,330.6 million
  • 70 new grants approved in 2015 worth US$73.6 million
At the time of publication (June 2016), total IFAD loan and grants approved since 1978 were worth  nearly US$17.7 billion and the programmes and projects we support had reached about 459 million people.

If you’re looking for the details behind those figures, or information on our new sovereign borrowing framework, recent replenishments, cofinancing or disbursements – take a look at the Financing Data and Resource Mobilization chapter.

Here's the breakdown of the numbers region by region.

West and Central Africa
  • 47 ongoing projects in 22 countries
  • US$1,270.7 million invested by IFAD in the region’s ongoing portfolio
  • 7 new programmes and projects for a total IFAD investment of US$184.4 million
East and Southern Africa
  • 46 ongoing projects in 17 countries
  • US$1,463.1 million invested by IFAD in the region’s ongoing portfolio
  • 7 new programmes and projects for a total IFAD investment of US$399.4 million
Asia and the Pacific
  • 66 ongoing projects in 21 countries
  • US$2,142.2 million invested by IFAD in the region’s ongoing portfolio
  • 14 new programmes and projects for a total IFAD investment of US$552.2 million
Latin America and the Caribbean
  • 36 ongoing projects in 20 countries
  • US$535.8 million invested by IFAD in the region’s ongoing portfolio
  • 7 new project for a total IFAD investment of US$116.6 million
Near East, North Africa and Europe
  • 36 ongoing projects in 18 countries
  • US$773.7 million invested by IFAD in the region’s ongoing portfolio
  • 4 new programmes and projects for a total IFAD investment of US$78.0 million
Not just numbers
The Annual Report is more than just numbers, however. It’s also about IFAD’s engagement in policy processes and dialogue on global and regional issues, including the SDGs, climate change, financing for development and more. And it spotlights key areas of activity in each region, with results and stories.

A theme that comes up in several of the stories from the field in the 2015 report is how IFAD is supporting the production, consumption and marketing of local, traditional crops like millet in Senegal, sorghum in Kenya and Tanzania and the red-seeded shrub achiote in Ecuador. Read the stories to find out how IFAD-funded projects enable farmers to improve cultivation and processing techniques at the same time as they raise awareness about the benefits of the crops, which often include resilience in the face of the effects of climate change. Connecting farmers to value chains and markets is also a key part of such projects.

You’ll also find stories that bring to life our commitment to empowering women and young people. In Moldova, ambitious young  farmer Anastasia Gilca is building her blackberry business with IFAD support. In Indonesia, businesswoman Ratna Sari Dewi Bani is leading a successful fish-processing group. And in Central Asia women spinners, knitters and felt-producers are exporting their high-quality products to Europe and America.

If you're interested in the details of new initiatives, all newly approved programmes, projects and large grants are summarized. To see which countries we’re working in and where we have country offices, take a look at the map.

If you want more than this one-page cheat sheet, there are plenty of other options  to explore from the Annual Report landing page. There are the 12-page Highlights, the 64-page print report, and the full report (which includes a wealth of information and detail, including Member States and their representatives, the Financial Statements and more).

I’d like to close with a big thank you to the many people who have contributed to AR2015: the focal points who pull together the information and give guidance during the writing phase, those who write their own sections, the people who give us the numbers and the directors who give support and clearance. Then from the production phase, the production teams in the four languages, the production coordinator, the editor, the photo editor, the sub-editor, the translators, the in-house and external designers, the editorial assistant and the proofreaders. Everyone has contributed a huge amount and I hope you will all be happy with the end result. Feel free to send suggestions for next year's report – work starts on that in September.

As usual, we’re launching the Annual Report on social media. Take a look at our Facebook page and join the conversation on twitter. Use hashtag #AR2015 and tweet your favourite quotes, facts and figures to your followers.

Reintegration of ex-combatants through agriculture in Côte d’Ivoire: PROPACOM project

Posted by Susan Beccio Tuesday, September 16, 2014 0 comments

A photo blogpost by Mariajose Silva Vargas

An ex-combatant waiting to receive inputs for production in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire.  © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
My name is Mariajose Silva Vargas, I am a Bolivian national currently finishing my internship in the Office of the President and Vice-President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Furthermore, I just graduated from Ghent University in Belgium with an International Master of Science in Rural Development (IMRD) degree.

In June 2014 I went to four different cities in Côte d’Ivoire to collect data for my master's dissertation and for this reason, I visited the IFAD Projet d'appui à la Production Agricole et à la Commercialisation (PROPACOM). Specifically, I met with a special cluster of the project's beneficiaries: the ex-combatants.

Indeed, the country’s last civil conflict ended in 2011, and nowadays there are around 74.000 ex-combatants that need to be reintegrated into the socio-economic life. Thus, IFAD is assisting the Authority of Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (ADDR) by forming, supporting and installing 2000 ex-combatants into the agro-pastoral sector.

 “The project's objective is to integrate ex-combatants, because they had nothing after the two crises. After years of fighting they had to go back to their life,”  said Mr Pierre Soro Seydou, coordinator of the PROPACOM team in Bouaké.

Ex-combatant and his family work in the field near Ferkessédougou, Côte d’Ivoire.   © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
During the first days of my visit, I was very nervous: indeed, I wondered how to talk to them or ask them about their life after the war, since inevitably the reintegration of ex-combatants is a very delicate issue. Nevertheless, when I met them, their communities and families, they were all very kind and available to answer all of my questions. Therefore, during our conversations, they explained to me that today they just want to take care of their families, and this is one of the main motives why they want to become farmers.

The children in an ex-combatant’s community in Ferkessédougou, Côte d’Ivoire.  © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
Consequently with the project, the ex-combatants and their communities receive training to start or to return to work in the agricultural sector. In fact, many of them were already farmers before the first crisis in 2002. Indeed, Mr Yefarguia Kone, one of the former fighters said to me:

“I was born in agriculture, before the war I was also a farmer”

In any case, with the training they also learn new techniques to increase the production, such as methods to process cassava into manioc, or shea nuts into shea butter. For them, the formation is essential for many reasons, such as to improve the quality of their production or enhance social cohesion with other people.

Mr Yefarguia Kone explaining facts to me in the field,  Côte d’Ivoire.  © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
“ After the formation I have found many things that have helped me to improve my everyday
life. Really, the formation have donated me many things, especially techniques in the
agriculture,” said Mr Yefarguia Kone.

A woman from the community producing shea butter, Côte d’Ivoire.  © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
Likewise, with the programme they get inputs to start production and they also receive further assistance to connect their communities to markets. For instance, Mr Nakoudjana Silue, one of the beneficiaries, got a tricycle to transport the food and sell it in town marketplaces. 

Mr Nakoudjana Silue got a tricycle to transport food to the markets, Côte d’Ivoire.   © IFAD/Mariajose Silva Vargas
 From my point of view, this project is a perfect example of the multi-functionality of agriculture, or in other words, that it can solve many issues in rural areas apart from producing food and fibre: it provides employment; it assures social inclusion of the most vulnerable people; and it can even provide social security and protection.

More than fire dances, cocoa and coconuts

Posted by Susan Beccio Wednesday, September 3, 2014 0 comments

By Susan Beccio and Antonella Piccolella
 

This week, a dedicated group of IFAD colleagues and partners participated in the International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Apia, Samoa. It was an action packed week with a number of highlights. The opening of the conference began on Sunday night, with a ceremony and a traditional fire dance.
Traditional Samoan fire dance, at the opening ceremony of the SIDS conference. 
©IFAD/Susan Beccio
The centrepiece of our participation was the side-event: More than cocoa and coconuts: investing in rural people, developing agriculture. This session presented how IFAD forges partnerships to successfully match smallholders and business opportunities, and generate environmentally-friendly win-win solutions for producers, buyers and consumers in a rural context - and in small island developing states.
It was a fast-paced session that began with an introduction by  Chase Palmeri, Country Programme Manager for the Pacific Islands (and mastermind of the session) and Périn Saint Ange, Regional Director East and Southern Africa Division, followed by the screening of Small Island Developing States - Partnering for Sustainable Development - a video which set the scene for the discussion. 

Périn Saint Ange opens the side-event. ©IFAD/Susan Beccio

In IFAD we say that working in the field is complex, challenging - and also immensely rewarding. Putting together and running a side-event is no exception. Imagine an open tent, hot and glaring sunshine, the buzz of fans, gusts of trade winds - and yet the show must go on - and it did.

The "talk show" which followed the screening, was dynamic and interesting. Many of the people that were featured in the video were in the tent, talking about their experience in real time. Our favourite host, Ron Hartman, also Country Programme Manager in the Region, guided the discussion. 
The keynote speakers were:
  • Adalberto Luis, Responsible for the Cocoa Value Chains at the Cooperative for Export and Market of Quality Cocoa (CECAQ-11), São Tomé and Principe
  • Isikeli Karikarito, Cicia High School Principal, Fiji
  • Byron Campbell, Project Manager ‘’Market Access and Rural Enterprise Development Project  (MAREP)’’, Grenada
  • Andrea Serpagli, Country Programme Manager for São Tomé and Principe

Participants of the side-event, from left, Ron Hartman, Andrea Serpagli, Adalberto Luis, Byron Campbell, Isikeli Karikarito. ©IFAD/Susan Beccio
The discussion covered the following areas:


Partnering with the public sector: Making smallholder farmers voices heard in Grenada.
IFAD has established strategic partnerships in Grenada with both the public and the private sector to enhance access to markets and entrepreneurship opportunities, particularly for young rural men and women. The Market Access and Rural Enterprise Development Programme (MAREP) provides the Government of Grenada with a unique financial instrument to implement rural policies that benefit the poor. IFAD is playing a bridging role between public sector, smallholder farmers and other rural entrepreneurs by supporting the engagement of its target group in country-driven processes.

Partnering with civil society: Participatory guarantee scheme in Fiji
Joining hands with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, IFAD has been supporting farmers in the Pacific through the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom). The POETCom is working with members of the Cicia Rural Development Committee and the community to build farmer capacity to manage certification requirements and meet market demands and standards through a method of organic certification known as a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). The IFAD-funded initiative has offered a low-cost way to achieve organic certification and develop local market chains.

Partnering with the private sector: Fairtrade organic cocoa production in São Tome and Principe
In São Tomé and Principe the end of the cocoa industry seemed inevitable, but IFAD recognised the potential for a high quality cocoa market. It developed key partnerships with the Government, local cooperatives of cocoa producers and private companies operating within the organic and fair trade markets to re-launch the cocoa industry. By combining organic production and fair trade principles cocoa exports have increased 30-fold and 2200 smallholder farmers have seen their incomes raised five-fold. At the same time biodiversity protection and sustainable uses of resources have been promoted.

We concluded the session with Périn Saint Ange presenting IFAD's Approach to Small Island Developing States and wrapping up. 

Some of the take-away messages were:
  •      It is key to pick the right partners and build trust. 
  •      Trust needs time to develop.
  •      Good partners are those with a long term development vision.
Overall the side-event and IFAD's participation at the SIDS conference was a great success. We had the opportunity to share our knowledge and experience and confirm our future commitment to the rural development of small islands states - a large number of nations that share common obstacles and challenges as well as a unique context and set of circumstances.

Complimentary bottles of virgin coconut oil from Kiribati and copies of our approach paper. ©IFAD/Susan Beccio